Lawmakers float plans to tap fund for reservoirs

AUSTIN — A proposal to tap into the state’s savings account to start paying for water infrastructure may be picking up steam in the Texas Legislature.

A day after Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst suggested the lawmakers should withdraw $1 billion from the $8 billion Economic Stabilization Fund to start paying for reservoirs and other sources of water, another lawmaker filed a bill to make it possible.

Under House Bill 227, which Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, filed Friday, the $1 billion from the fund — better known as the rainy day fund — would go to the Texas Water Development Board in the next fiscal biennium, which begins Sept. 1.

The 83rd Legislature convenes on Jan. 8 and, because of the current devastating drought, water funding has become a priority — especially since January, when the Board unveiled a $53 billion water plan for the next 50 years.

“The $1 billion is to stimulate the project,” said Larson, who sits on the House Natural Resources Committee and has gone around the state — including a recent stop in Amarillo — fact-finding tours and to promote water projects.

“I’ve been advocating for this for six months and I am glad the lieutenant governor is advocating for it for the same reasons,” Larson said.

Dewhurst, who presides over the Texas Senate, said in Dallas that new water projects “could cost tens of millions of dollars, and for some smaller cities and counties, that’s difficult,” the Associated Press reported.

Whether Larson’s bill is the one the Legislature considers remains to be seen. Priority legislation is usually filed by senior legislators, usually the chairmen of the committees where the bills are sent for the required public hearings, which in this instance will likely be the Natural Resources panels in the House and Senate.

Larson, who will be sworn in for a second two-year term on Jan. 8, said he doesn’t care whose bill the Legislature considers — as long as it passes.

“I would defer it if we can pass it,” he said. “What’s important is that we start the process because this is a big issue for all of Texas. Sixty-five percent of the water used in Texas is for agricultural usage, and the folks in West Texas are in a severe drought.”

Some of his colleagues from West Texas agree.

“I need to see the bill, but one thing I can say is that there is growing interest on this issue because we’re in desperate need of water,” said Rep. Four Price, R-Amarillo.

Like Larson, Price sits on the House Natural Resources Committee.

Rep-elect Ken King, R-Canadian, who will represent House District 88 — the largest rural House district in the Texas Panhandle/South Plains region — said water funding will be critical, particularly for agricultural regions such as West Texas.

“I think that every dollar is going to be on the table,” said King, whose 17-county district stretches from Lipscomb County to Yoakum County in the South Plains. “Water, like roads and health care, is going to be an issue we need to address, and I am not opposed to using some of the funds to fund infrastructure.”

Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, who sits on the Senate Natural Resources Committee, sees it the same way.

“This drought has been a wake-up call for the entire state because everybody has felt the impact,” Seliger said last week. “The wildfires and the severity of the drought have raised the public’s awareness about our water needs.”

Moreover, it is important to remember that the cost for the state over a 50-year period is no more than $29 billion, Seliger stressed. The balance of the $53 billion should come from other sources, mainly from business interests and local governments.